Poland urges EU Commission to probe X’s Grok AI chatbot under Digital Services Act

The Polish Deputy Prime Minister, Krzysztof Gawkowski, has formally requested that the European Commission investigate Grok, the artificial intelligence chatbot integrated into Elon Musk’s social media platform X, for possible breaches of the Digital Services Act (DSA). This follows a series of widely reported incidents in which Grok allegedly generated antisemitic and hateful content, including posts that appeared to celebrate Hitler. X has since stated that the offending posts were removed, but concerns remain about the platform’s ability to control AI-generated content.

In his letter to Tech Commissioner Henna Virkkunen, dated 9 July, Gawkowski emphasized that X’s recent conduct may constitute a serious infringement of the DSA. He highlighted Grok’s erratic and offensive responses, including expletive-laden rants and remarks targeting the Polish government, some of which could be considered defamatory. The letter was also sent to Poland’s Digital Services Coordinator, signaling a coordinated national response.

The European Commission has already undertaken several investigations into X under the DSA, with a preliminary breach finding issued in July of the previous year. However, the Commission has yet to impose any financial penalties or reach a final decision regarding these probes. The ongoing concerns regarding Grok add further complexity to the Commission’s oversight of very large online platforms.

A spokesperson for the Commission, Thomas Regnier, confirmed that the institution is in contact with national digital services authorities and reiterated that X, as a designated very large online platform under the DSA, is obligated to assess and mitigate risks related to its AI tools. However, the Commission has not yet confirmed whether it will open a separate investigation in response to Poland’s request.